Did the RNC boost Trump’s reelection odds?

President Trump closed the Republican National Convention with a lengthy speech Thursday night from the South Lawn of the White House. Trump levied repeated, and often false, attacks at Joe Biden and attempted to paint an optimistic picture of a nation in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, an economic collapse and social unrest.

His speech largely echoed themes that had been raised by speakers throughout the convention: claims that Democratic policies would make the country less safe, stories of how the president’s actions had affected Americans, and testimonies of...